The prospect of a major change in the offside law to favour attackers appears to be receding after senior sources expressed doubts about the progress of trials.
Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has been a major advocate of changing the law in his role as FIFA’s chief of global football development, which would mean a player could be ahead of the second-last defender provided there is no ‘daylight’ between them.
The law change was first proposed in 2020 but initial trials were badly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Subsequently it has been tested in youth competitions in Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden.
An update on the ongoing trials is expected to be given at a meeting of the International Football Association Board (IFAB) football and technical advisory panels on Tuesday.
However, two individuals close to the process have independently indicated to the PA news agency that they were not aware of significant progress on this issue, with one of those individuals saying they did not sense the trials were a priority within the IFAB.
Under Wenger’s proposal, a player would be onside if any part of them which could legally score a goal is level with the second-last defender when a ball is played.
If it was ever adopted, it would be the biggest change to the offside law since 1990, when it was amended so that a forward who was level with, rather than behind, the second-last defender was onside.
The advent of VAR has introduced the phenomenon of ‘toenail’ and ‘armpit’ offsides, and even with the ‘daylight’ rule there would still be very borderline calls needing to be made.
There are expected to be updates on other trials on Tuesday, including the introduction of a signal allowing referees to create a captain-only zone.
A similar initiative instigated by UEFA for Euro 2024 was possible because it did not involve any law change – only an agreement from coaches and players that if a player other than a captain approached the referee they risked a booking for dissent.
The IFAB subsequently issued guidelines intended to support other competitions wishing to follow UEFA’s lead, but is also pressing on with the signalling trial in parallel, on the basis that initiatives like UEFA’s are much more difficult to enforce in lower-level, grassroots competitions where no cameras are present.
There is expected to be positive feedback put forward too on a trial to allow goalkeepers to hold a ball for eight seconds instead of six, and award a corner or a throw-in where keepers hold on too long.
England’s Premier League 2 is one of the competitions trialling this law change which it is felt has brought clarity for everyone involved, particularly because referees count down the final five seconds on their hand.
The IFAB is also continuing to test the introduction of a signal enabling referees to create cooling-off zones to break up on-field brawls.
A minor clarification is also expected on Law 8, related to drop balls.
